Hector Thomas Cheal Pardoe (born 29 March 2001) is a British swimmer. Specialising in distance and open water events, he is the 2024 bronze medalist in the World Aquatics Championships 10 km open water race,[1] the first British male swimmer to win a World Championship open water swimming medal in Olympic distance, 10km, since Welsh Compatriot, David Davies back in 2008.
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Hector Thomas Cheal Pardoe | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 29 March 2001 Wrexham, Wales | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 77 kg (170 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||
| Event | Marathon swimming | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Pardoe is also the current record holder for England's largest lake, Lake Windermere, in which he beat the 26 year old record, by 8 minutes. Pardoe set the record at 3 hours 40 minutes and 28 seconds.[2] In the ultra-marathon swimming scene, Hector holds the British record for the 25,000m, set in October 2020 at the French Open Water Championships in Jablines, finishing in 4 hours, 59 minutes, and 15 seconds.[3]
Swimming career and achievements
editPardoe became the first British swimmer to win a medal at the World Junior Open Water Championships when he won bronze in the individual 5 km in 2016.[4][5] Hector also lead off the Bronze medal winning GB relay team at the same World Junior Championships.[6]
In 2018, Pardoe finished 2nd at the Great North swim elite race held in Lake Windermere, which served as British swimmings selection for the Glasgow LEN European Championships. This selection made him the youngest British Open Water Swimmer to represent Britain at a Europeans.[7]
In 2020, Pardoe finished 10th in the overall FINA Marathon Swim World Series. Later in 2020, he broke a British marathon swimming record by going under five hours for a 25,000-metre open water swim, at the French National Open Water Championships held in Jablines, France in a time of 4 hours 59 minutes and 3 seconds.[8]
In 2021, Pardoe made his Olympic debut in Tokyo at 20 years old. He qualified for Tokyo by winning the 2021 World Aquatic Olympic Qualifier in Setubal, Portugal,[9] but was forced to retire from the Tokyo Olympic race due to an elbow to his eye.[10] Pardoe ended the year by finishing 9th in the Grand Final of the 2021 FINA Marathon Swim World Series in Abu Dhabi, resulting in an overall 8th place position in the 2021 FINA World Marathon Series.[citation needed]
In 2022, Pardoe competed in the 2022 World Aquatics Championships held in Budapest where he finished 11th in the mens 10 km marathon.[11] He also represented Great Britain at the LEN European Championships held in Ostia, Rome.[12]
In 2023, Pardoe finished 10th in the Mens marathon 10 kilometre event at the 2023 World Aquatics World Championships held in Fukuoka, Japan, securing him qualification for the 2024 World Aquatics Championships and Olympic qualifier set to be held in Doha, Qatar.[13]
At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Pardoe finished sixth in the 10 km open water swimming marathon.[14]
Personal life
editHaving trained at Ellesmere College in Shropshire, England, under the tutelage of Alan Bircher from age 11 to 18, in 2020 he moved from England to train and live in Montpellier, France to train with French Coach Phillipe Lucas.[15] In 2022, Pardoe moved back to the UK, where he now trains and studies business economics and finance at Loughborough University. Outside of swimming, Pardoe is a supporter of English football club, AFC Wimbledon[16] and is vegetarian.[17] Hector Pardoe is in a relationship with French triathlete Cassandre Beaugrand.[18]
In 2024, he was named in the British team for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[19]
References
edit- ^ "Olympics 2024: Hector Pardoe wins 10km open water World Championship bronze". BBC Sport. 4 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ Lissaman, Clare (3 September 2023). "Shropshire's Pardoe breaks world record for Windermere swim". BBC News. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Hector Pardoe sets British record for 25km swim at French National Open". Swim England Open Water Swimming Hub. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ "Hector Pardoe wins bronze at 2016 World Junior Open Water Champs". Swim England Open Water Swimming Hub. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ "Competition Results". World Aquatics. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ "Competition Results". World Aquatics. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ "Hector Pardoe bound for Paris after World Championships". shropshirestar.com. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ Race, Retta (28 September 2020). "Newly-Funded Hector Pardoe Takes 25k Silver In France, Beats Bircher's Record". SwimSwam. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Pardoe wins Olympic 10km marathon swim qualifier in Setubal". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ Palmer, Mark (16 February 2024). "Tokyo Olympics: 'I thought I had lost an eye' – Hector Pardoe retires from 10km swim after elbow to the face". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Pardoe and Robinson Dig Deep in Budapest Sun". British Swimming. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ Byrnes, Liz (6 August 2022). "Tokyo Olympian Hector Pardoe Among Seven Called Up To GB Open Water Squad For European Championships". Swimming World News. Europe Correspondent. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Swimmer Hector Pardoe aims for record glory ahead of Paris 2024". BBC News. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Pardoe sixth as Rasovszky wins open water marathon". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Marathon Swimming - PARDOE Hector Thomas Cheal". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
- ^ "Hector's bid for Olympic glory inspired by our underdog story". afcwimbledon.co.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ Lord, Craig (30 June 2021). "Hector Pardoe & The French Odyssey Of A Vegetarian Ellesmere Titan Who Overcame Fear Of Jellyfish For GB Ticket To Tokyo Olympic Marathon". StateOfSwimming. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ Donneux, Romain (22 November 2022). "Cassandre Beaugrand fait sa mue en Angleterre" [Cassandre Beaugrand is changing her ways in England]. L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ "Paris Olympics 2024: Team GB name swimming squad for Games". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
